Big City Plan in Running for Global Award

Issued: 18 June 2008

Birmingham will go head-to-head with high profile competition from Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Genoa next Tuesday night (24n June 2008), as it competes for top honours at one the world's most illustrious regeneration awards ceremonies.

Set to take place in Valencia, Spain, the BEX 2008 International Awards celebrate excellence in how the built environment is designed, planned and developed across all corners of the globe.

Drawing entries from as far-a-field as America, Russia, Asia and the Middle East, the awards are one of the few truly global platforms on which regeneration schemes from one country are judged against the next.

Birmingham's place in the competition finals comes in the category of 'Master Planning', where it has been short-listed for its work in developing the Big City Plan.

Cllr Neville Summerfield, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, said:

"Simply to be on the short-list for such a prestigious award is a great achievement, and recognition of the scale and groundbreaking scope which the Big City Plan is seeking to address.

"while Birmingham has long been at the forefront of regeneration innovation in the UK, projects such as the Big City Plan, New Street Gateway and £193m Library of Birmingham are increasingly making the rest of the world sit up, take notice, and want to do business with us."

The Big City Plan is the single biggest master planning exercise ever undertaken in the UK, and amongst the biggest in the world. Shaping the future of Birmingham over the next 20 years, and beyond, the plan will co-ordinate a regeneration programme worth tens of billions of pounds and more extensive that that taking place for the London 2012 Olympics.

Competing with Birmingham's Big City Plan for the BEX award will be masterplans for:

Abu Dhabi 2030 — a 25 year plan for the development of the Middle East city
Marina Bay — a man-made bay in Singapore set to host the Formula One Grand Prix from 2008.
La Spezia Waterfront — a formal naval base near Genoa being transformed into an entertainment and leisure district